Belarusian president arrives in Tianjin for SCO summit

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko arrived in the northern Chinese port city of Tianjin on Saturday evening to attend the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Summit 2025 scheduled for Sunday and Monday.

This marks Lukashenko's 16th visit to China.

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Belarusian president arrives in Tianjin for SCO summit

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Belarusian president arrives in Tianjin for SCO summit

Belarus, the SCO's 10th member state, established diplomatic relations with China in 1992 and was among the first countries to join the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative.

China is now Belarus' second-largest trading partner worldwide and its largest in Asia.

In September 2022, the two countries elevated their ties to an all-weather comprehensive strategic partnership.

During his trip, Lukashenko will also attend China's commemoration of the 80th anniversary of victory in the Chinese People's War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression and the World Anti-Fascist War on September 3 in Beijing.

China's outstanding aggregate social financing -- the total amount of financing to the real economy -- reached 442.12 trillion yuan (about 63.4 trillion U.S. dollars) as of the end of 2025, up 8.3 percent year on year, central bank data showed on Thursday.

The country's aggregate social financing stood at 35.6 trillion yuan (about 5.1 trillion U.S. dollars) in 2025, up by 3.34 trillion yuan (about 479 billion U.S. dollars) from the year 2024, said the People's Bank of China (PBOC), the country's central bank.

According to the data, the M2, a broad measure of money supply that covers cash in circulation and all deposits, increased 8.5 percent year on year to 340.29 trillion yuan (about 48.8 trillion U.S. dollars) as of the end of December.

In addition, outstanding yuan loans stood at 271.91 trillion yuan (about 39 trillion U.S. dollars) at the end of 2025, up 6.4 percent year on year.